


Avengers Assemble (One Last Time)

by Ijustneed12percentofamoment



Series: United We Stand [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A Bit Of Reality Canon Too, Angst and Feels, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, But Still Hates Everyone, Canon Compliant, Captain Marvel - Freeform, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Cloak of Levitation (Marvel), Everyone is miserable, Gen, Guilt, Loki (Marvel) Feels, Mechanic Tony Stark, Minor Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Montages, Multi, Nebula Is Supportive, Nomad Steve Rogers, Original six, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Torture, Peter Parker and Mantis Friendship, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Some Humor, Steve Is Miserable, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Is Miserable, Tony meets Shuri, Trauma, Why Did Bucky Have To Be First, i have too many emotions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 12:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15907869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ijustneed12percentofamoment/pseuds/Ijustneed12percentofamoment
Summary: In which everyone is miserable, but are also supportive and beautiful friends. Canon montages during and after Avengers: Infinity War.





	Avengers Assemble (One Last Time)

**Author's Note:**

> ******MASSIVE spoilers for Infinity War and the post credit scene******
> 
> \- Part 2 of [United We Stand](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1059182)
> 
> \- While these montages are canon to the movie, the three smaller montages are of course only my speculation and want to include other characters. The last montage is also largely based on speculation, coz ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ **internally screaming**
> 
> \- I feel like I have to specifically name Martin Freeman’s character because apparently the only names federal agents in the MCU have is Ross…. I am NOT writing about that asshole who started Civil War, I am writing about the Tolkien-White-Guy from Black Panther
> 
> \- This was planned and drafted post Infinity War and pre Ant Man and the Wasp – it’s just taken a while to clean it all up
> 
> \- I do NOT own any of the Marvel characters or the ideas from Infinity War
> 
> \- I do NOT own the song lyrics ‘Heroes’ by Zayde Wølf, but you can listen to it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4Ry4qpMXqs)

 

 

“We are heroes,  
Heroes in the darkest times,  
When there is no light, oh.  
We are heroes,  
Heroes in the darkest times,  
But we'll rise above, oh.”

 

 

The shadow of the colossal ship enveloped their own, and the two brothers stared in silence as an eerie sense of doom threatened their newfound victory.

“I don’t suppose you _know_ who that is do you…?” Loki asked, trying desperately to make this situation better than what he suspected it was about to be.

“No, I thought you knew.” Thor replied gruffly, never taking his remaining eye off the ship.

“Brother, just because I like to _think_ I know everything, doesn’t–” Loki was cut short when his eyes narrowed in on the detail engraved in the metal of the ship, the electric light shining from within the segments of armour, almost like the sections of a rib cage – somewhere in the dark, repressed parts of his memory he heard aliens screeching in glee; the bright blue light of the Tesseract throbbing with each footstep coming closer; a sharp, intense burning filling his chest until he couldn’t breath before he fell to his knees, his own screams echoing over the others…

 _“Fire…” That voice still rasped in his head, “is nothing compared to what I can conjure,_ frost _giant.”_

Thor lurched towards his brother, shocked when Loki gasped and bodily flinched away from the window, paler than death and with fear and so much _pain_ in his eyes.

“Loki…! Brother what is it?”

Loki stared at him in horror and jerked away from his touch before coming to his senses again. He grabbed Thor desperately, and when he spoke it sounded as if he’d run all the way from Valhalla.

“We need to get out of here. _Right. Now._ Otherwise we’re all going to die.”

As if on cue, the explosions started.

 

 

Vision watched the spoon turn in slow circles through the hot chocolate, Wanda hardly needing to pay attention to it as she cradled the cup in her lap and soaked up the warmth from the ceramic. She looked up and caught him watching and smiled, reaching up to hold his chin. Something like tingles sparked within him as the heat from her hand spread across his face, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her under the blankets. The rain outside was so soothing over the low hum of the television.

“I never cease to be amazed by it.” Vision whispered, still watching the spoon before leaning down to kiss Wanda softly on the forehead.

“You can move through walls and yet you’re amazed by my dancing cutlery.” She laughed and he looked at her,

“You are the most miraculous person, Wanda. A living, breathing person who can eat and drink and bleed and feel the sunlight on your skin, who, yes,” He raised an eyebrow, “just happens to make house hold items move independently.” Vision grinned when she laughed and he loved the way it lit up her face. “I love you for that. For all of those things.” He said solemnly, tracing his thumb across her cheekbone before moving it to her lips, cradling her jaw in his hands.

The spoon stopped turning and Wanda set the cup down to turn and face Vision, arms wrapping around his chest. The human form he adopted amazingly produced body warmth and a heartbeat, and she felt it speed up when she pulled him against her lips. Sinking further into the couch, Vision let Wanda’s small frame ease him backwards until she lay on top of him, his phantom heartbeat thrumming against her chest and her fingers dancing along his face.

Breathing each other in, Wanda cuddled closer into Vision’s arms as one hand found where her top had ridden up and pressed his hand against the bare skin at her waist.

“I was thinking I could stay here.” He huffed against her mouth when they (she) stopped to take a breath, and Wanda looked up sadly,

“Viz, we both know you have to go back.” She barely wanted to admit it herself, and when she spoke again, she was trying to convince herself too, “You’ll be back before you know it. Besides, we still have…” She reached for her phone on the table and it turned on without a touch. “Six hours.” She smiled at him “We can get a lot done in six hours.”

Vision brought the blanket up further and pretended to weigh up the decision.

“I suppose…” He grinned wryly, and Wanda kissed it away.

 

  

As soon as they’d all caught up, Steve was by his side.

“Bruce, how did you get my number?”

“Tony had this crappy old phone with your number in it. After he left, I rang you.”

“Who else was with you? Was he the only one taken?”

“No, he went after that weird magician when he was kidnapped.” Steve frowned, so he continued, “Strange, or whatever his name was – you don’t know him? Apparently he’s got magic, and the Time Stone.”

“Did they tell you anything else?”

“No, Steve, what the hell is going on? I know I’ve been gone a while, but everything’s gone to hell – what happened to the Avengers?”

Despite himself, despite what was going on, Steve looked a little sick – he couldn’t look the doctor in the eye. Banner was the glue to their odd, hodge-modge family, the one who forced everyone to apologize and hug it out, and now here they were, so far from even shaking hands it was appalling.

“We fell apart… changed. I’m sorry Bruce.” He couldn’t even shrug, so he winced instead.

“But this is so beyond arguments, Steve,” Bruce held a hand to his chest to stop him, to try and make him see.

“What I saw up there, I can’t even begin to explain… Thanos, Thanos is fucking _powerful_ – he had me on the floor in minutes, and he wasn’t even using the stones. He decimated our _whole_ ship – he’s the one who captured and manipulated Loki to attack Earth.” Bruce saw something cross Steve’s face and nodded. “Yeah, he was basically a pawn to Thanos – I know we all still hate him for New York, and for Clint, but man, I have never seen him scared until Thanos came. He’s the one behind _everything_.”

Steve’s frown was heavy; it took up his whole face.

Bruce shook his head, feeling utterly useless here on Earth. “I don’t know what Tony and the kid are gonna do, but if Thanos manages to get the Time Stone from Strange somehow, then we’re all screwed.”

Steve almost flinched,

“Wait, what kid? _Peter_?”

Bruce frowned, “I don’t know, he was dressed in this red–”

The dawning realisation winded Steve. “Oh Christ…”

 

 

“So are you like… a praying mantis?” Peter tried not to sound too awkward as he watched Mantis’ eyes widen with interest and her antenna fluttered.

“I was not raised to worship a god – but I was raised by a terrible man who thought he was a god.”

“Oh, _no_ , no not like that… Never mind. Uhhh,” Peter scratched the back of his neck, wondering if this was how Ned felt when he found out about him being Spiderman. “What do your antenna do?”

“They help me with my powers – I can feel what a person is feeling by touching them.”

“Woah, like an empath.” Peter’s jaw dropped.

Mantis beamed excitedly, “Yes precisely!”

“Can you touch me?” He stuck out his arm and heard Starlord immediately snort with laughter. Peter rolled his eyes.  
The innocent faced alien reached out to hold his wrist and Peter was awed when her antenna lit up and bobbed above her.

“You are filled with wonder and intimidation. You are also scared of what’s happening.”

Peter felt himself blush.

“Yeah, well… who wouldn’t be?” He looked around at the desolate, broken planet surrounding them, at the spaceship that brought them here. Then he looked over at Tony Stark and the others and guessed it could be a lot worse. He felt a warm, comforting wave wash through him like a hot blanket and breathed a little easier. Looking back at Mantis, Peter found her antenna glowing a bright white, and her hands emitted the same faint glow.

Peter smiled kindly at her and Mantis mirrored it when she felt his tense muscles relax.

“Thanks.” He said. They both looked over at the other super-people they were here with and found Doctor Strange deep in conversation with Tony Stark and Starlord nodding his head along to his music while Drax watched him. The Cloak of Levitation floated a little way off from where Strange stood, before turning to… face? them. It hovered for a moment before a corner of the fabric lifted and waved at them.

Mantis giggled and waved back, while Peter just shook his head in amazement. He waved until the Cloak turned and floated off to prank Starlord.

“I hope, after all of this, we can visit your Earth and you can show me this Kevin Bacon hero you all speak of.”

Peter laughed at her innocence and nodded.

“Sure, that would be awesome. You’ll love Earth – oh my god Ned will loose his mind!”

Mantis beamed “Well I would love to help your friend find his mind!”

 

 

The effect was immediate. With it, came the screaming. People screamed for loved ones, for themselves, for the chaos and uncertainty that ensued. Papery ash flittered through every city, every town, and every country, every planet.

 

Everett Ross was in a board meeting when a siren started ringing out, one of many that had been going off that day. But then people started _disintegrating_ around him. The intern who was pouring the coffee just blew away in a thousand pieces of burnt paper – the coffee pot he’d been holding smashing on the table. The vice-president of the CIA was next. People started panicking, Ross himself started to panic – was he next? He watched another CIA agent disappear opposite him before he felt something inside him _stop_. He tried calling out, but felt his whole body dry and quiver and oh god it was happening, wasn’t it? Ross reached out and was horrified when he saw his own hand disappear before his eyes–

 

Pepper felt a sickness lurch through her stomach as dust and ash flittered through the streets. Her and Happy froze before turning to stare at the little TV in the coffee stand that stood in the park.

“Oh my god…” Pepper gasped as the news reporter disintegrated on screen, her thoughts immediately going to Tony. He was unreachable and she’d never know if he was still… here or not.

Happy stumbled next to her and she screamed as he fell to the ground in a pile of ash, and she didn’t stop screaming until a SHIELD car screeched to a halt in front of her and Phil Coulson was hugging her tight.

 

The buttery sunlight draped over Clint’s shoulder blades and down onto Laura’s face as she smiled up at him.

“I don’t know about you, but I think these afternoon shenanigans need to become apart of our routine.” He grinned slyly down at her as she hooked her fingers through a belt loop of his jeans and felt her bubbling laughter as he trailed butterfly kisses along her breastbone.

“I’m sure we can figure out something.” Laura cooed, running her fingers up his ribcage to hold his face above her own. Clint raised an eyebrow and squeezed her tight, feeling her skin press against his and her heartbeat quickened under the pressure of his body against hers.

Clint didn’t hesitate when she tugged him towards her lips and they kissed like it was their first and last wrapped into one–

Laura suddenly stiffened and pulled back, the beginnings of a gasp pulling her lips apart.

“Laura? Honey what’s wrong?” Clint’s eyes widened and his heart pounded in the wrong kind of way as he saw panic in her eyes. “Laura,” he held her gently, terrified of hurting her further.

“Clint–“ She rasped, before her eyes hollowed, and her mouth became an ashy hole in which the rest of her face began to crumble into. Clint cried out, but in a heartbeat, she was gone. He was left holding handfuls of a dusty substance that two seconds ago, was his healthy, beautiful wife.

He rolled away in horror, falling off of the bed and landing on the floorboards with a sob. Hyperventilating, Clint stared down at the dark ash that covered his arms and chest, and dusting his jeans. Greyish muck was smeared down his face when he wiped tears away.

“Oh my god…” His head spun and Clint thought he might throw up until a shrill scream echoed out from downstairs from his daughter. He bolted for the door, petrified of what he’d find next…

 

  

Nebula edged closer to the man who wore the metal suit – the only one of them left. He was crumpled on the ground sobbing, and while a part of her wanted to jump in her ship and leave him here, the way everyone just ceased to exist in front of her made her not want to look away from this stranger.

“You from Earth?” She asked. She remembered Quill calling him Tony, and she edged forward. He turned his head a bit when she spoke but after loosing everyone, she could see why he ignored her.

“Tony. That’s your name right.” She spoke in statements rather than questions. “I’ve lost everyone too, okay. Now I have two options – leave you here alone and go after Thanos, or bring you with me so we can do it together.”

Tony looked up from his hands, frowning and looking like she had the first time she lost a battle and suffered her father’s wrath. He looked broken and so utterly lost – way beyond over the edge, that there was barely anything to help him back up with. The boy who had disappeared in his arms hadn’t been his kid, Nebula knew that much, but if she’d learnt anything from her time with the Guardians, that didn’t stop them from being family.

“He’s gone.” Tony finally choked out. “I couldn’t– I didn’t stop this…”

She frowned, but forced her voice to be slow, evenly toned. “That’s not your job. At least not yours alone. There’s still got to be others, right? We’re still here, that means others have to be too.”  
Nebula saw his face change and thought maybe he was going to throw up. She gritted her teeth. Nebula often didn’t have time for people who were struggling through loss – she had lost everyone a long time ago, she was miles ahead of anyone else and she was never one for patience. There was something still deeply repressed in her groan of exasperation,

“Look, I get it, I really do, but we _need to go_.” She thought of Quill, of his devastation when she told him about Gamora – tried not to think of her own…

Tony forced a sob back down but it came out like a squeak. He looked and sounded like he needed an oil and repair.

“I can’t… What if– what if she’s–?” He closed his eyes and shook his head, physically shaking off his intrusive thoughts that were always hiding just around the corner. “What if we can’t do anything?” He amended, his voice sounding stronger this time.

“Strange said it was ‘the only way’, right? Surely that means we’re still meant to be here for a reason.” She pointed at the spot next to Tony where Peter had been. “That kid put all of his belief in you. He had hope.”

Tony’s face creased solemnly and she almost shrugged,

“I have that belief too, and so do you. So do so many other people who are out there alone right now. And you owe it to him to keep going, keep fighting.”

He nodded, slowly getting to his feet and wincing when his wound tore. They stood in silence for a few minutes, Nebula filling her quota for speaking for about the whole year.

“Thanks.” Tony finally said, nodding vaguely.

Nebula returned the nod with the same amount of vagueness.

“Yeah whatever.” She turned towards her ship and Tony watched her before hesitantly turning to glance back at the space where Peter should have been beaming with excitement and cracking a terrible joke about an eighties movie.

Tony felt himself grimace.

“Hey!”

He spun back and saw Nebula hanging out of the door of her ship calling after him and quickly hurried after her.

“Bruce, you and your friend better have made up when I get back…” He muttered to himself, as the front of his helmet slid back in place. “Damn, I hope he called Cap.”

 

  

What remained of the team were still reeling an hour after the battle.

Steve was sitting on a table in Shuri’s lab, but all he could see was what was left of the battleground, the papery dust drifting over his fingers–

_He could still feel him; he could hear his laughter and see him grin at the joke about them seeing the end of the world together again._

_“Steve…?”_

“Steve?” He felt something sharp in his stomach before a hand rested on his shoulder and he flinched.

“Easy there…” Nat watched him, a flutter of a smile trying to reassure him, but not even her endless positivity could get them through what had just happened. What he kept seeing over and over again.

“This isn’t the end. I don’t know how, but I know it isn’t.” She said, slipping a hand within his.

Steve nodded,

“I hope so…” His eyes crunched into a grimace, “All I can see is–”

“Steve.” Nat squeezed his hand and looked him in the eye. “ _Don’t_ do this to yourself.” Her voice was low but firm, her eyes serious – and under that, grieving. Because Steve knew she was seeing the exact same thing he was.

…

They were way past worrying about what the Board or SHIELD or anyone else thought. They were past being awkward with each other at this stage. Not after they had seen half of their best friends disappear before their eyes, not after they just lost the most crucial battle of all. They all knew they needed as many people as they could get – Bruce, Tony, Shuri, hell even Hank Pym would probably already have some magical invention in the works. If there was any time to reassemble the team, it’d be now.

Bruce and Rhodey were bent over a table, Tony’s phone between them, like they were waiting for it to start ringing.

“What do you know about Doctor Strange?” Nat asked, crossing her arms, lips set, all business. Steve had caught her glancing at her own phone and wondered how long it would take to figure out who was left out there. “Just because the Time Stone is gone, doesn’t mean Strange is dead.”

Bruce raised a sceptical eyebrow, considering,

“I don’t know,” he pondered, “he seemed pretty hung up on his role as a guardian of the Stone. I don’t think he’d just give it up without…” Bruce stopped, pressing his lips into a hard line. All their eyes fell back to the cell phone.

“We don’t even know if they survived the Snap.” Rhodey finally spoke, not looking up.

That was the hardest part, not knowing. The big question that remained was _if_ …

It was hard to imagine anyone still being out there after the Snap. But Steve had to believe that Tony and Peter and Strange were still here. Because if he didn’t, or they weren’t…

“We have to believe they are.” Nat said, her voice left little room for argument.

“She’s right.”

They all turned to see Thor in the doorway, not looking at any of them in particular yet still holding all of their gazes. “It’s all we have left.”

Rhodey nodded, before Nat’s phone started ringing. As soon as she looked down at it she spared Steve a glance and he knew. She turned away from them to answer, but she’d barely finished saying hello when Steve heard Clint on the other end of the line crying over his kids.

Steve placed his hands on the table and hung his head forward, eyes squeezed closed. Would there ever be an end to all this pain?

“I’m coming right now.” Nat said, turning and barely stopping as she ran from the room. “I gotta go.”

Steve heard the tears in her voice and felt his own throat burning. No one stopped her.

When he opened his eyes again, the phone was in front of him, forcing him out of his miserable reverie. Steve swallowed, but no amount of serum could erase the tears from his eyes.

“This phone,” his voice was husky, “it connects to Tony’s suit, right?”

Banner shrugged helplessly, “Doesn’t everything connect to his suit?”

“Do you think you could enhance the range? Try and reach him if he’s out there?”

At this Rhodey rose both eyebrows and Bruce tilted his head,

“Hypothetically…”

“I could help with that.” Shuri interjected, spinning around in a huge white chair, hiding away at another desk, her eyes still shining with tears for her brother.

“How long were you–?” Bruce started before Steve cut him off,

“You think you can make this work?”

“If we work together, I have no doubt. Stark has the highest form of tech outside of Wakanda, so trying to connect to it with ours shouldn’t be too much of a difficulty.” She shrugged, wheeling her chair over to another desk and picking up a coil of Vibranium wrapped up to the size of a baseball. Shuri tossed it in the air and caught it – the beginnings of a smile pulling at her lips.

“It’s not connecting to him that’s the problem – it’s him getting a message back.”

She reminded Steve of Tony so much it was a little scary – the fact that they’d never met was both a tragedy yet most likely less of a headache for himself and T’Challa–

On second thoughts – Steve decided he’d personally make this meet happen.

“Let’s get to it then.” Thor nodded, and Bruce clapped Steve on the shoulder, meeting his gaze with a silent, determined nod.

_We’re gonna get through this._

…

The minute the call ended it felt like a new beginning. The surge of hope from that one, crackling, forty second call had them buzzing with adrenaline, even Rocket’s ears had pricked up a bit.

“I am almost one hundred per cent certain that angry voice in the background was Nebula.” He claimed.

_Tony was alive._

The rush of bitter-sweet relief made Steve sick with happiness.

It was late afternoon (was it really still the same day?) and if all went to plan, Tony would be back on earth any time before morning.

 

Allowing themselves to rest, they all retreated to separate areas of the underground castle, but Steve doubted any of them were actually sleeping. Bruce and Shuri were still in the lab when he stepped out, and Thor had disappeared off to the roof somewhere.

Turning on his phone, he tried calling Pepper to let her know the good news, and his stomach shrunk when it went to voicemail. Minutes that felt like hours later, a message buzzed saying that Pepper was under the supervision of SHIELD and was safe. He replied asking for her to receive the news about Tony but he got no response.

Biting his lip, Steve called Nat next. He didn’t expect her to answer with all that was going on, but was caught off guard when she picked up.

She answered with, “Did you get the phone call to work?”

Desperation was in her voice. More than ever, Steve realised.

“Yeah we did, Tony’s alive.” It felt so good to say it out loud – like it made it real in a very unreal time.

“Thank god.” Her sigh of relief sounded so tired.

“He should be back any hour now.” Steve paused, dreading her answer. “How’s Clint?”  
Nat hesitated and Steve waited, wishing he could be there to hug her close.

“His daughter Lila’s the only one left…” Her voice broke and Steve crumpled forward.

“Oh god…” he leant his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face with his spare hand.

“After we figure out things here, I’m coming back to help.”

“No it’s okay, Nat–”

“We need all the help we can get, Steve. Clint’s coming with me. He wants to.”

Steve couldn’t think of the right thing to say in such a situation. Everyone had lost someone today; nobody was left untouched by what had happened. All Steve could do was keep working on a way to fix things, no matter the cost.

“Okay.” He finally said, “Take care, both of you.”

“Will do.”

 

 

“Are you sure these coordinates are right?” Nebula snapped, glaring out at the trees that were fast approaching.

“Trust me, it’s a shield.” Tony snapped back, only barely believing it himself. He’d watched T’Challa’s address at the UN – had known about their resources for a while now – but when they were hurtling towards a forest, surely he could be forgiven for second guessing it.

“You better be right, tin man…” Nebula winced as they reached a point of no return.

_Three._

_Two._

“It’s Iron– ugh forget it– _Whoa_!”

Tony threw up his hands, but thankfully no impact came. Nebula raised a mechanical eyebrow at him as he lowered his hands sheepishly.

“I thought you knew about this?” She hissed, and for a second Tony was too mesmerised by the new landscape stretching out before them to answer.

“So I flinched, sue me.” He was gaping at the _real_ Wakanda, before their ship started stuttering.

“I thought you said there was enough fuel to get to Earth.” He turned to his new companion incredulously.

“I said _should_. And in case you didn’t notice, this _is Earth_!”

“Well I don’t know about your planet, but here on Earth, we don’t just jump out as soon as we pass through the atmosphere! _We actually land_.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to aim this ship on your side when we crash.”

…

Tony didn’t realise how fucking _good_ it would feel to see the man he had chased from a plane six years ago and flattened a small part of the woods with, help him out of their piece of space junk.

“Tony, you have no idea how good it is to see you again.” Thor beamed at him, but there was something dimming the usual twinkle in his eyes, and it wasn’t just the glass eye.

“I think I have an idea.” Tony’s equally dim smile became a little more genuine when he saw Rhodey and Bruce.

“I don’t know if you already found out, but I thought you’d like to know that Pepper is safe.” Rhodey smiled at him and Tony felt another twig in his dam barrier snap. An odd squeak of a sob escaped his throat instead of a sigh of sheer relief and he clapped Rhodey’s back when he was drawn into a hug.

“Thanks.”

“Hey don’t thank me, Steve found out earlier this morning.”

A few more branches snapped at Steve’s name, even more so when he realised he went out of his way to find Pepper. The real damage was done when he saw the glimpse of dark blue and dirty blonde hair – that was when the cracks in the dam he had built so weakly began to spread.

…

“All of them…?” Bruce was shaken, and Tony tried not to look at him, tried not to think about it for the thousandth time.

“What about your end?” He sidestepped, shoving his hands in his pockets, but when he looked over at Rhodey, his friend’s mouth was a grim line.

“Who else…?” Tony looked about the team, desperately trying to decode the silent treatment they were giving him. He felt something deep inside him shudder before he looked to Steve, the one person he could count on for telling it like it was.

“Steve…?”

But Steve flinched and just shook his head. Tony was shaken at how utterly _lost_ Steve looked – Christ, he was about verging on tears, and Tony felt his anxiety begin to crush his windpipe and burn his sinuses. He glanced back at Rhodey who was trying to not look at Steve.

“What about–?”

Steve let out a breathy sob, more like a sigh of exhaustion and his eyes welled as he shook his head again, trying to shake away the memory.

“They’re all gone…” He whispered, and Tony despised the fact that he had ever wanted Bucky to die, because it meant that Steve would look like this and hell, he couldn’t handle Steve like this. He was aware enough to know he was being extremely selfish, but after loosing Peter and Strange, Tony just couldn’t cope with Steve not being Cap. He so _needed_ Captain America right now, but instead he had this sad, bruised, bearded man who had just lost his best friend, practically his whole world, for the fourth time. At least he still had Rhodey and Pepper, thank god.

Tony’s panic rose to a level that he couldn’t cope with; it made his fight or flight responses crash and burn, and before he knew it, he was crushing Steve in a hug, and Steve was hugging him back, and holy shit, he had missed him _so_ much.

 

 

Thor watched as the fierce rabbit shuffled his feet next to the warrior called Nebula with the metal arm like Steve’s friend, while she sat on the edge of their ship and gauged her new allies.

 

Shuri finally shook hands with Stark, smiling when he complimented her on her work and when he couldn’t stop looking around himself at their city as they spoke.

 

Clint was permanently hunched over – his wound still too deep, too raw for revenge to fill it just yet. Nat sat with him, just holding his hand. Neither of them ever spoke, but that was fine with him.

 

Okoye had disappeared since the battle, and not even Shuri could seem to find her, but Rocket had accidently found her deep beneath the earth, lower even than the train rails, when he was trying to avoid everyone.

 

Tony took forty minutes to dial Aunt May’s number, only to hang up immediately after she answered. He cried until he got angry with himself and called Pepper instead.

 

Thor helped the farmers and the children clean up after the battle, smiling along with the kids who taught him Wakandan and poked curiously at his armour.

 

Nebula had caught Steve glancing at her metal arm, and when she glared at him, he smiled kindly at her instead. Twenty minutes later, he was making her a coffee strong enough to make even Tony’s eyes widen, and she thought that maybe Earth wasn’t that bad.

 

 

By noon, Steve had found Nat and Clint sitting around a table staring at some sandwiches in an open room they had unofficially made their meeting area.

Tony wondered by soon after, back in his black tracksuit that despite being bloodied and torn, still managed to look sleek like armour. He looked both lost and in awe at the same time as he trailed his fingers along the walls and they lit up behind him. When he saw them, Nat waved him over, before Thor came around the corner.

“Look at us, together again.” Thor grinned before frowning, his eyes scanning around them. “Except we’re missing Banner.”

“Missing me for what?” Bruce appeared from the opposite side of the room, a tray of drinks in his hands.

“Thor’s reminiscing.” Tony provided, grabbing a sandwich.

“The original six.”

“Ugh, don’t call it that.” Nat rolled her eyes, taking the drink Bruce offered.

“What next, matching tattoos?” Clint joked, voice thick with sarcasm as usual, and Steve smiled, because for a while, it actually felt like old times.

“That’s a fantastic idea!” Thor. Of course.

“Ah, I really don’t want find out what would happen if I got repeatedly stabbed with a needle, thanks.”

“Maybe Thor’s onto something – maybe that’s gonna be the only way to get the big guy out.”

“Tony, eat your sandwich.”

“You know I could be right.”

“Ha! I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Rhodey, you don’t even know what we were talking about.”

“Sandwich?”

“Where’s mine?” Rocket could barely see over the table, and Steve handed him a sandwich as the conversation became more and more layered.

“–Oh you always say that.”

“Steve, back me up–”

“–Strange can’t fly–”

“–As if I am not the strongest Avenger.”

“You people are even worse.”

“Hey, you wanna leave? Be my guest.”

“Rocket, be nice.”

“Hey that was my sandwich!”

“I didn’t see you name on it, _Hawkeye_.”

“They’re gonna kick us out if we don’t settle–”

“–I don’t think the Time Stone can do that–”

 

“Hello?” At first no one noticed the new voice.

 

“–I didn’t crash it on your side!”

“Do that arm thing again…”

“What about Ant Man?”

“That is a terrible name–!”

 

“Um, excuse me.” A little louder. Still no reaction.

 

“ _No_ way!”

“Steve did not grow a beard for this!”

“I still like the tattoo idea…”

 

The sharp whistle cut through the din, and everyone froze and spun around.

“Does anyone want to explain this?”

They all stared at the newcomer as she raised her sunglasses to perch them on top of her head. She was holding a small pager in her hand and looking around at them expectantly, like a teacher waiting for her class to settle. The stranger raised a blonde eyebrow when no one could answer, before Tony immediately fell back into his role of their accusatory leader.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” He frowned – his natural standoffish nature coming off even stronger than normal.

The blonde woman crossed her arms, her own frown setting her jaw into a sharp line.

“Carol Danvers. Who the hell are you?”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to @justalotoffeelings for reading through most of these montages for Pt. I & II and putting up with my ideas and late night messages about ALL THE FEELINGS, as well as to all who stopped by to read Part I - you guys blew me away xxx
> 
> Notable mention also goes to these songs for amazing inspiration while writing these montages:
> 
> \- ‘Walk Through The Fire’ – Zayde Wølf and Ruelle  
> \- ‘Sharks Don’t Sleep (Civil War Trailer Theme) – Dean Valentine  
> \- ‘Atmosphere’ – Joy Division  
> \- ‘Live Like Legends’ – Ruelle  
> \- ‘Shoot To Kill’ – Tommee Profitt and Quivr  
> \- ‘Stand By Me’ – Bootstraps  
> \- ‘Soldier’ – Fleurie  
> \- ‘Walk On Water’ – Thirty Seconds To Mars<  
> \- 'Born Ready' - Zayde Wølf
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks so much for stopping by and reading!  
> Look out for part III coming soon.


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